Serving apparatus



March 9 H. 1.. BLOOD SERVING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 1'7, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet Mven/a Ham/d1. 5/000 March 4, 1930. H. BLOOD 1,748,970

smvme APPARATUS Filed Aug. 17, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet mym/a/ flaw/W1. 5/004 Patented Mar. l, 1930 UNITED} STATES Parser!" orrlca HAROLD LANGLEY BLOOD, OF OAK IPARK, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO WESTERN ELEOTRIG OOMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK SERVING APPARATUS Application filed August 17, 1926. Serial No. images.

This invention relates to serving apparatu's, and moreparticularly to serving apparatus forapplying covering material to wire or other types of cores.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an improved serving apparatus for expeditiously applying covering material to cores with a substantially uniform predetermined tension thereon at all times independently of any varying conditions of the serving material. I

. In order to attain this object inaccordance with, the general features of this invention as embodied in a serving head for insulating conductors for use in transmitting intelligence electrically,there is provided an apparatus wherein insulating material in coil form is mounted on a carrier which is frictionally driven by a rotatable head, the

' ,20 frictional driving pressure between the carriey and the head being controlled through the agency of a delicately balanced elastic leverage mechanism responsive to a tendency of thetension on the'traveling material to vary from a predetermined amount.

More specifically the material in traveling ft m the supply coil to the core being served, pisses over a spring tensioned lever which is one of two interconnected levers oppositely affected by centrifugal force and pivotally disposed upon the head at opposite sides of the axis thereof, the other lever being elastically connected with thefirst lever and also having an operative connection with the coil carrier at substantially fixed diametrically opposed points thereof. Any tendency of the tension on the insulating material to vary from a predetermined. amount as determined by its associated spring tensioned lever, which is mainlycaused by the diminishingsize of the coil, results in avery slight cooperative v movement of the levers to vary the driving pressure between the carrier and the head to maintain a substantially constant tension on the paper.

Other ob'ects and advantages of this in- I vention will more fully appear from the accompanymg detailed description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,

wherein Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side view, partly 1n sectlon, of a serving head embodying the features of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view on a reduced scale of the complete serving head showing the path of the insulating. material from the supply coil to the wire to be served;

Figs. 3 and 4 are plan sections on the lines 3-3 and 4-4, respectively, of Fig. 1 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary end view of a por-. tion of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 6 is a side view thereof.

Referring to the drawings, the supporting base of the serving apparatus has not been shown, except fragmentarily, as a mounting means for parts concerned with this invention. A portion of the baseis indicated at 10 and upon which isjournaled a rotary driving spindle 11 provided with an opening 12 therein through which a wire 13 to be insulated is threaded, the wire being led from a suitable supply (not shown). To the upper end of the spindle 11 is attached, by means of a key 14, a plate or serving head 15, which supports and frictionally drives a material supply carrier 18, the material in the present instan'cefbeing a coil of paper 19. The carrier 18 upon an outer vertical peripheral surface-has three equally spaced radially extending fins 20 around which a cardboard core 21 of the coil 19 is pressed, the lower surface of the coil resting on the upper surface of a flange 22 of the carrier 18. Mounted in an annular recess 23 formed axially in the upper surface of the head 15 is a washer 24 composed of any suitable friction material the flange ofthe carrier and the friction washer, which is fixed to rotate with the head being controlled by an elastic leverage mechanism responsive to a tendency of the tension on the traveling paper to vary from a predetermined amount, which mechanism'will be hereinafter described.

The carrier 18 is formed as light in welght as possible as indicated by the depressions 26 and is rotatably journale upon an'upwardly extending sleeve portion 27 formed axlally upon the head 15, a bushing 28 composed of a suitable bearing material being interposed therebetween. Threaded into the sleeve portion 27 is a hollow supporting post 29 provided with a flange 30 which abuts the upper surface of the sleeve portion 27. Mounted upon the post 29 is a rotat ably adjustable sleeve 33 which directly supports the leverage mechanism 25, the sleeve being retained in its adjust-ed position upon the post 29 by p a pair of lock nuts 34 thieaded upon the upper end of the post 29 and-ubearing upon the upper end of the sleeve 33. Attached to the sleeve 33 by a spline 35 is a brake disk 36 with a depending annular flange 37 thereof contacting with the upper surface of the carrier 18, the spline permitting a sliding movement of the disk 36 relative to the carrier 18. Pinned to the sleeve 33 as indicated at 40 is a collar 41 provided upon its left side, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 3, with upwardly extending ears 42 upon which is fulcrumed a tension lever 43, the lever surrounding the sleeve 33 and spaced therefrom. Extending downwardly from the underside of the collar 41 to the right of the axis of the head 15, as viewed in Figs. 1, 3, and 4, and upon opposite sides of the collar is a pair of bifurcated arms 44 each adapted to straddle a pin 45 secured upon opposite sides of a tilting brake washer or lever 48 which is spaced from and surrounds a hub portion of the brake disk 36. Depending from the underside of the washer 48 at diametrically opposite points and in axial alignment with the brake disk 36 are semi-circular lugs 49 which rest upon the upper surface of the disk 36. Interposed between the left ends'of the lever 43 and the washer 48 is a coiled compression spring 50, the spring being retained in position by studs 51 secured to the lever. 43 and washer 48, respectively. The stud 51 carried by the tension lever 43 is adjustable so that the tension of the spring may be varied during the initial setting of the tension mechanism to increase or decrease the force exerted by the lugs 49 formed upon the washer 48 against the brake disk 36, which as will be apparent is transmitted through the disk 36 to vary the frictional driving pressure between the carrier 18 and the head 15 and consequently the slippage therebetween. Surrounding the sleeve 33 between an adjustablPcup shaped collar 52 threaded thereon and an annular depressed Web 53 formed upon the side of the tension lever 43 which is opposite the side engaged by the spring 50 is a coiled compression 55 for imparting a normal tension on the paper as it is drawn from the coil 19. By adjusting the collar 52 upwardly or downwardly upon the sleeve 33 the tension on the paper may be decreased or increased to the desired amount, the collar thereafter being locked in position by a nut 56. Secured to a shoulder formed upon the sleeve 33, by a key 57 is a collar 58, which carries upon an ear formed upon its right side (Fig. 1) a tapered guide pin 59. A similar pin is mounted in the same manner upon the tension lever 43 (Figs. 1 and 3) only slightly further from the axis of the head than the pin 59 to provide a sufiicient leverage upon the lever 43 which action will be hereinafter described. It will be observed that the small ends of the tapered pins point in the same direction as the head 15 rotates during the operation of the apparatus, which serves to prevent the paper from sliding off the pins as will clearly understood. Referring to Fig. 3 it will be noted that'the tapered pin 60 is adapted to be reversed end for end upon the ear of the tension lever 43, the axial opening through the pin being threaded at both ends. The pin 59 is similarly reversible, the purpose of which will be given hereinafter. Carried upon the upper tapered end of the post 29 isa collar 63, which is retained in position by a shouldered tip member 64 threaded into the post 29. Fixed to' the upper surface of the collar 63 is a pair of'rods 65 which are equally spaced from the axis of the collar 63 and disposed at right an les to the guide pins 59 and 60. Adjusta bly carried by the rods 65 is a polisher holder 66 which by its location from the pins 59 determines the angle of application of the paper 19 to the wire 13, the polisher being indicated at 67. The holder 66 is slidably mounted upon the rods 65 and retained in the desired position thereon by set screws 70 (dotted lines Fig. 1).

Located on the head 15 on its upper surface and near its periphery are paper guiding pins 71 and 72 and over which the free end of the paper coilis led to the pin 60. Two pairs of pins 71 and 7 2 are removably mounted on the head 15 180 apart to properly balance the latter and also provide another set of pins when one pair is worn down by the friction of the paper passing over them through long use. The pin 72 is set at such an angle'to the upper face of the serving head 15 that the paper after leaving the pin is not led at an abrupt angle from its line of travel to the pin 60. It is desirable that the center of the pins 59, 60, and 72 and the axis of the serving head 15 always be in one plane and to facilitate and insure such alignment the tension mechanism 25 with the pin 60 carried thereby is mounted upon the ad- 'ustable sleeve 33. It will be apparent that y-loosening the lock units 34 and rotating the sleeve 33 upon the post 29 thedesired alignment maybe readily had without the removal ofany part'of the serving apparatus and as readily clamped in such position.

Another advantage of the serving apparatus, as herein-before described, is its ready adaptability for serving the insulating paper 19 upon the wire 13, either with aright or left handlay which may vary, for instance, in different types of conductors as used in telephone cables. In the set up of the apparatus as illustrated in the drawings, the paper is being served with a left hand lay, .the pins 59 and 60 are reversed upon their su ports end for end, and the pins 71 and. 2 comprising each pair carried by the head 15 are reversed in position and 't ereafter the sleeve 33 is angularly adjusted upon the post 29 to ali n the pins 59 and 60 with the pin 72, all in the manner hereinbefore described. The coil of aper 19 is mounted upon. the carrier 18 with the free .end uncoiling in a directionreverse to the direction of rotawill be counter-clockwise, the reverse of that shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings as indicated by the arrows. It is to be understood that the driving spindle 13 may be rotated in either direction by suitable mechanism which has not been shown for the sake of simplicity.

The operation of the elastic leverage mechanism during the serving of'the paper 19 to the wire 13 is as follows:

The coil of paper tape 19, as hereinbefore mentioned is mounted upon the carrier 18 with its free end uncoiling in a direction reverse to the direction of rotation of the head 15. The wire 13 is threaded through the hollow driving spindle 11 from its supply, through the hollow post 29 and the polisher 67, around a. suitable ca stan and thence to a suitable take-up mechanism (both not shown). The operatlon of the serving apparatus it is believed will be clearly understood without illustrating the capstan and take-up mechanisms, they being generally well understood in the art. .Re e Figs. 1 and 2 the free end of the paper coil is led around the pins 71 and 72 around the inside surface of the tapered pin 60, during which movement it is turned 90 from its original position on the coil. From the pin 60 the paper is led around the outside surface of the-tapered pin ,59 and thence over the right rod 65 andthrough the polisher 67. The free end of the paper is manually wrapped around the wire in, a clockwise direction and held thereon, the apparatus started and the capstandraws the wrapped wire upwardly and feeds it to the take-up mechanism.. -Itwwill-be apparent from the deSCI'iP'r tion hereinbefore given that through the fricrring to tion between the washer 24 fixed to the head 15 and the flan e 22 on the carrier 18 on which the coil 0 paper is mounted, the latter will be revolved in the same direction as the head but at a difference in speed due to the drawing of the paper from the coil as it is wrapped on the advancing wire 13 by the revolving head. This difference in speed is indicated by the arrow (Fig. 2) adjacent the paper between the coil and the in 71. Any. tendency of the paper to vary mm the initial predetermined amount as determined by the adjustment of the spring 55 is mainly caused by the decreasing diameter of the c011 of paper 19. As the coil becomes smaller the leverage becomes less and the tendency is to increase the tension on the paper, but this is immediately offset by a very slight movement of the lever 43, against the compression of the spring 55, counter-clockwise about its pivot point on the ears 42, due to the'pull of the paper in passing around the pin 60. A1

though the lever 43 is shown in Fig. 1 engaging the supporting collar 41 it will be understood that in operationthe movement of the paper upwardly raises the lever from contact therewith. This it will be apparent redu'ces the pressure which the spring 50 exerts on the tilting brake washer 48, and consequently reduces the braking action of the lugs 49 carried thereon at diametrically opposite points upon the brake disk 36. This latter action is transmitted through the carrier 18 upon which the brake disk. 36 Tests to decrease the frictional'driving pressure between the carrier and the washer 18 on the revolvmg head 15,.or in other words, to increase the slippage between the latter friction members, and thereby maintaining the tension on the paper substantially constant from a full coil to' an empty one.

Due to the very high speed at which the serving head operates the lever 43 and-the tilting brake washer 48 will beacted upon by centrifugal force but due ,to' the pivoting thereof at opposite sides of the axis of the head and the difference in leverage therebetween, together with the greater weight of the tilting washer 48 upon itsleft side and the low center of gravity thereof, as clearlyindicated in Fig. 6, the movement of the lever 43 is balanced by that of the lever 48, centrifugal force tending to move the right end of the lever 43 upwardly and the left end of the lever 48 downwardly (Fig.1). The use of two levers provides a greater tension arm ratio than could be obtained conveniently with a singlev lever in the space available, since it is desirable that the, diameter of the leverage mechanism 25v be small enough to permit the core 21 of the coil :to passover it and thus not requiring the removalof any part of the mechanism; when mountingha The use of the spring 50 between the two levers supplies a very delicately balanced le-' verage mechanism, which permits the serving apparatus to be revolved at a very high speed with a minimum number of breaks in the paper, thereby increasing the output of the apparatus.

What is claimed is:

1. In a serving apparatus, a rotatable driving means, a friction driven means carrying a supply of serving material and driven by the driving means, a pivotal member carried by the driving means over a portion of which the material travels for exerting a' tension on the material, and means elastically conneteg p to the pivotal member and operatively ass ated with the driven means at angula rpg sposed points for varying the frictiona hiving pressure between the driving and driven means in response to a tendency of the tension on the material to vary from a predetermined amount.

2. In a serving apparatus, a rotatable driving means, a friction driven means carrying a supply of serving material and driven by the driving means, a plurality of members pivoted on axes disposed at an angle to and surrounding the axis of the driving means and rotating therewith, one of the members responsive to the other for varying the frictional driving pressure between the drlvlng and driven means in response to a tendency of the tension on the material to vary from a predetermined amount.

3. In a serving apparatus, a rotatable driving means, a friction driven means carrying a supply of serving material and driven by the driving means, a pair of members pivotally attached to the driving means upon opposite sides of the axis thereof, one of the members exerting a tension on the material, and an elastic medium disposed between the pivotal members and responsive to the action thereof for varying the driving pressure between the driving and driven means in response to a tendency of the tension on the material to vary from a predetermined amount.

4. In a serving apparatus, a rotatable driving means, a friction driven means carrying a supply of serving material and driven by the driving means, a brake member for the driven means, pivotal means carried by the driving means and over a portion of which the serving material travels for exerting a tension on the serving material, and means engaging the brake member and responsive to the action of the pivotal means and engaging the brake member at angularly disposed points for varying the driving pressure between the driving and driven means in response to a tendency of the tension on the material to vary from a predetermined amount.

5. In a serving apparatus, a rotatable driving means, a friction driven means carrying a supply of serving material and driven by the driving means, a brake member for the D driven means, a pair of members pivotally attached to the driving means upon opposite sides of the axis thereof, one of the members exerting a tension on the material, and means engaging the brake member at substantially diametrically opposed points and responsive to the action of the other for varying the frictional driving pressure between the driving and driven means in response to a tendency of the tension on the material to vary from a predetermined amount.

6. In a serving apparatus, a driving means, it), friction drlven means carrying a supply of serving material and driven by the driving means, a member pivotally attached to the driving means at one side of the axis thereof, the material traveling over a portion of the member extending to the opposite side of the axis thereof for exerting a tension on the material, and means elastically connected to the pivotal member and operatively associated with the driven means at angularly disposed points for varying the frictional driving pressure between'the driving and driven means in response to a tendency of the tension on the material to vary from a predetermined amount.

7 In a serving apparatus, a rotatable driving means, a friction driven means carrying a supply of serving material and driven by the driving means, a member pivotally attached to the driving means at one side of and extending around the axis thereof in the form of an annular shelf, a coiled spring coaxially arranged with the driving means and operatively, engaged at one end with the annular shelf for exerting a tension on the material which travels over a portion of the member, and means operatively connecting the pivotal member with the driven means for varying the frictional driving pressure be tween the driving and driven means in response to a tendency of the tension on the material to vary from a predetermined amount.

8. In a serving apparatus, a driving'element, a driven element carrying material to be served to a core, means intermediate said elements for communicating power ,to' the driven element from the driving element, elastic elements acting in opposite directions associated with the power communicating means for normally causing the communication of a predetermined amount of power to the driven element, and a lever intermediate the elastic elements and responsive to the tension on the material being served for varying the action of the elastic elements to change the action of the power communicatelements to change the action of the power 'communlcatlng means.

In witness whereof, I' hereunto subscribe my name this 27th day of July A. D., 1926. HAROLD LANGLEY BLOOD. 

